Creamline’s Reinforced Conference and Finals MVP Bernadeth Pons. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Six years ago, Bernadeth Pons, a UAAP Season 80 MVP candidate, led Far Eastern Universtiy to the finals in 2018 — the same year Creamline won its first PVL Reinforced Conference championship before its title drought.
Pons didn’t win the MVP as National University’s Jaja Santiago was crowned and the Lady Tamaraws got swept by the De La Salle Lady Spikers in the UAAP Season 80 finals.
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Fast forward to the present day, her campaign called by her fans MV-Pons was fulfilled with Pons stepping up when it mattered most for Creamline to end a six-year Reinforced championship drought and win two MVPs in one night.
READ: Creamline on cloud 9 after beating Akari for PVL Reinforced crown
“It’s such a fulfilling feeling, and I’m really happy that we won the championship—not because I got the MVP awards, that’s just a bonus. My goal was to contribute and help the team win the championship,” said Pons after scoring 19 points, 13 excellent receptions, and 12 digs in their 25-15, 25-23, 25-17 sweep of Akari on Wednesday evening at Philsports Arena.
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“I’m so grateful to the Lord that He didn’t abandon us this conference. It wasn’t easy, with all the do-or-die matches from the quarterfinals to the finals. We almost lost in the semis, but we survived, and I’m happy we won the championship.”
The 27-year-old outside spiker attributed her rise to stardom to the lessons she learned from her failed championship bid in FEU and her experiences playing with Sisi Rondina in several international beach volleyball tournaments for the Philippine women’s national team.
READ: Creamline’s Bernadeth Pons named PVL Reinforced MVP
“Every game teaches you a lot of lessons, and I’m really grateful for all my past experiences. Whether it’s beach or indoor volleyball, it has all made a huge impact and has helped me play the way I do now,” she said.
Pons became the fourth Conference MVP of Creamline after three-time winners Alyssa Valdez and Tots Carlos as well as 2019 MVP Tots Carlos, who missed the midseason tournament.
Creamline Cool Smashers are the PVL Reinforced Conference champions –PVL PHOTO
The pride Talisay, Negros Occidental joined Jaja Santiago, the last PVL player to win both Conference and Finals MVP in Chery Tiggo’s title run in the bubble two years ago.
Her best PVL campaign wasn’t stopped by a five-set loss to PLDT in the conference opener as she strived to fill in the huge voids left by the trio of Valdez, Carlos, and Galanza.
READ: PVL: Bernadeth Pons a difference-maker for Creamline
“The goal was really to win the championship, but after we lost to PLDT in our first game, I told myself that our conference wouldn’t be defined by that one loss. It was actually a good start for us even though we lost because it went to five sets,” Pons said.
“We learned so many lessons early on, and we saw what we needed to improve. The team’s determination in training every day was incredible—everyone was so committed and passionate about their work. It was great that we were challenging each other even during practice.”
Pons played a crucial role in Creamline’s sweet revenge against two-time champion and 2019 finals rival Petro Gazz in the quarterfinals, followed by a career-defining performance to overcome a two-set deficit and defeat Cignal in the knockout semifinal.
“Coach prepared us mentally and told us to focus on who was present, not on who wasn’t. Every day in training, we just worked with who was there,” said Pons. “There were times in training when things didn’t go well, and coach would ask, ‘Who are you waiting for?’ That was a wake-up call for us, realizing that it was up to us to put in the extra work for everyone.”
Pons may have established herself as one of the latest stars in the PVL, but she can’t celebrate her championship and two MVP trophies just yet as she has another mission in Creamline’s title-redemption bid in the Invitational Conference starting on Friday.
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“We have training again tomorrow because we have a game on Friday. We can’t be complacent because there’s another league right away, so the priority now is to recover tomorrow and focus on the game on Friday. Maybe after the Invitationals, everything will sink in,” Pons said.